Ryder keeps NZ contract despite alcohol incident

New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder has retained his New Zealand Cricket contract despite his latest off-field indiscretions which have led to a one-match international ban.

Ryder and bowling all-rounder Doug Bracewell were both suspended for the final one-day match against South Africa in Auckland on Saturday after they breached team protocols by drinking while recovering from injury following their loss in the second one-day match in Napier.

On Friday, team manager Mike Sandle said Ryder, 27, who had been on a final warning after a series of alcohol-related incidents, had breached an internal team protocol but not the players' code of conduct.

"We are really disappointed as a team that they were out there drinking alcohol and compromising their position and their preparation for the next game," Sandle told reporters in Auckland.

"It was internal team protocols that were breached and not a code of conduct (breach) and it has been dealt with in that manner.

"The previous breaches were code of conduct issues and this is simply a team-enforced drinking protocol."

Sandle said Ryder, Bracewell and leg-spinner Tarun Nethula had been in the bar for a "few hours" but the incident "had not been an all nighter".

He said Ryder would not be considered for the first test against South Africa in Dunedin, although that was because of form issues and would be discussed when the test squad was named later on Friday.

ALCOHOL ISSUES

A vastly talented batsman, with soft hands, a sure eye and bludgeoning power, Ryder has struggled with alcohol issues off the field throughout his career.

In 2008 he needed surgery on his hand after he punched through a glass pane in a toilet door in a Christchurch bar while he was dropped for a match in 2009 after turning up to training hungover and in 2010 he was reprimanded after an incident in a hotel, again in Christchurch.

After the 2010 incident, then New Zealand Cricket chief exeuctive Justin Vaughan said Ryder was on his final warning.

Ryder was brought back into the New Zealand side for the final match of their Twenty20 series against South Africa following his recovery from a torn calf muscle and strong form for Wellington in domestic cricket.

He had been on a self-imposed alcohol ban and a diet and had lost weight since rejoining the national team.

Sandle said Ryder, who had apologised to the team, would now need to make a decision on where he wanted to go with his career.